August 22, 2018

How to clean your Cashmere.

Herein the mystery about how to clean your cashmere is dispelled. One fine afternoon, Krysta and Haleigh brought the camera into the household for a veritable DIY video about WHY it is important to clean your cashmere, but also a few tidbits on HOW to do so.

If you have an extra 10 minutes, watch our video to learn some SECRETS. If you dont have the time, we have done our best to “bullet point” the conversation here.

CLEANING MATTERS because MOTHS DONT LIKE CASHMERE-- THEY LIKE DIRT! Imagine you are a female moth and you are looking for that perfectly soft, dark, undisturbed place with plenty of protein-filled dirt for your baby larvae to eat. Think: a cashmere sweater nicely folded and put away for the summer. Yes, an ideal place to wait for Mr. Right Moth to come along and make it all happen. And yes, dirty cashmere is the beginning of the end for your beloved cashmere.
IT IS OK TO DELICATELY MACHINE WASH your cashmere. We are certain that labels reading “dry clean only” are there to take away responsibility from the damage that can happen from erroneous washing. Our caveat: YOU MUST HAVE A FRONT-LOADING WASHER. A top loader with that central agitator will stretch and agitate your cashmere in unpredictable ways. You should always use the most delicate cycle. Warm water is ok, so long as it truly is warm and not hot. To play it safe, we recommend cold water.
USE DAWN TO SPOT-CLEAN YOUR CASHMERE. Bacon grease? Marinara? Tire Marks? Certainly it can happen to your cashmere hat. Don’t fear. We show you a way to spot-clean your hat with the ever-famous and old-reliable household dish detergent: Dawn. For this, the video is great to show how to work the magic.
USE OUR CASHMERE CLEAN as detergent for your machine or hand-wash. We have formulated the wash with essential oils of rosewood and lemon. This both safely cleans and leaves your cashmere smelling oh-so-not-moth-friendly.
IF YOUR CASHMERE SMELLS GOOD, then the pheromones of the female moth are masked by the essential oil in the cashmere clean. Therefore, the whole larvae eating your cashmere thing is not likely going to happen.
DRY CLEANING is an option but only if you have an established relationship with your dry-cleaner. We have tested a few cleaners and learned that some work and some do not. The worst thing is the steam process which can felt your cashmere and change its suppleness forever. There is no going back once the cashmere is felted. The chemicals can be harsh and while the smell they leave will likely ward off moths, they can also be fundamentally damaging to the cashmere fibers.
HAND-WASHING is certainly an option, but it is back-breaking. Our video shows you how to wash it in the bath-tub and how to drain the water from the garment without damaging it.
DRYING YOUR CASHMERE. The best thing about the washing machine is the spin-cycle. Imagine trying to mimic this by hand without damaging your garment. We call this the “pinwheel technique” whereby the garment is laid flat on a towel and then rolled out to squeeze the excess water. In New Mexico, this works well because it is so dry. If you are in a moist climate, we recommend letting your cashmere dry for 24 hours and then using a low-heat spin cycle in the machine.
VOILA! If you follow our instructions, we promise your cashmere will last a long time. Because cashmere is our business and because moths are the devil, we have learned mucho and have more to say. Stay-tuned for more videos and detailed information about cashmere, cashmere, cashmere.